The Blindness of Men Theme Analysis

As described in the theme on the Social Oppression of Women, Trifles’ use of gender roles establishes the men in the sphere of work and influence and the women in the sphere of the home and trifling concerns. Yet, at the same time, the title of the play highlights the trifling concerns that the men mock, and in doing so emphasizes that the “trifles” that the men overlook because they are feminine concerns are in fact crucially important. Ironically, it is these “trifles” that lead the women to uncover true evidence concerning the crime, while the men are unsuccessful in finding a motive during their search of the Wrights’ house.

The importance of the trifles demonstrates the way that the men, in their power and self-importance, completely overlook the importance of women and their domestic activities. It shows how that self-importance causes the men to overlook the very thing they are searching for, and how that arrogant blindness to the lives of women weakens the men in ways they can’t even recognize.